1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner container used to supply toner to an image forming apparatus main body, as well as a related image forming apparatus and a method for identifying a toner container.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses have a toner cartridge used to supply toner to a developing device. The toner cartridge is detachably installed in the image forming apparatus so that a user can easily replace the toner cartridge when the toner in the toner cartridge is exhausted.
Copier makers recommend several toner cartridges for use with its manufactured copiers in order to manage the products and to maintain printing quality. This is because the use of an inferior toner cartridge may degrade printing quality, and in some cases, cause a failure in the copier.
Further, the user cannot always recognize that a failure results from the use of an inferior toner cartridge. Thus, copier makers recommend toner cartridges that can maintain printing quality with their copiers in order to prevent failures in the copiers or related accidents.
Thus, since some toner cartridges may lead to a failure in the copier or a related accident, it may be necessary to determine the type of the toner cartridge in the copier. Further, the user may mistakenly use a toner cartridge that should not intrinsically be used, for example, a toner cartridge for different colors, though it has a sufficient quality.
Thus, techniques for determining the type of a toner cartridge have been commonly used (see, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-174946).
However, the technique described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-174946 is applicable to rotatable bottle-type toner containers but not to those which are not shaped like bottles.
Moreover, toner cartridges are expendable supplies and are thus involved in severe price competition; it is often difficult to provide them with added values. For example, providing the toner cartridge with a toner remaining amount sensor enables the precise determination of the amount of toner remaining in the toner cartridge. This makes it possible to allow the copier to display a message urging the user to replace the toner cartridge with a new one according to the sensed amount.
However, not all the toner cartridges have a toner remaining amount sensor for the above cost reason.